..That is if Charlton are to compete in the top six this season.
First lets not take anything away from the achievements so far. A very decent number of acquisitions, good positive football, and some very nice results to boot, so what's the problem? Well, it's the squad IMHO, its still somehow short of that magic number, although not as much as last term, i think however that the management recognise this, but are confined by a too rigid approach.
Strict squad limits are a dmirable in some ways yes, but can stifle progress, and when you have as much money as Roland, is it sensible to apply that dogma when the treasure of promotion to the Premier League must surely be the ambition? The alternative is to stay in the second tier and flush £5m or more down the toilet each year. The Gomez money we are led to believe by some of around £7m over two years, plus a bit more in add ons must be nearly spent, so maybe its time to put that bit more in.
Sure one must not blow all your chips on one hand, it just seems that squad policy is a little too rigid and must be allowed to flex a bit more - if indeed this is the problem. 2-3 long term acqisitions still needed, and if necessary get both wingers Henry and Pennant, and perhaps another centre half, and maybe even a longer term goal keeper.
What of Luzon? The crowd are certainly beginning to warm to him. He has a positive approach and that is excellent, the problem may be however wanting to win every game. When CAFC were under the management of AP (yuck) he organised the team in an attacking style, but the result was often 80 minutes of defending. The squad buckled with injuries ending Jon Fortunes career and the team nosedived. A different manager of course and it's early days for Luzon's team, but the already mounting injuries are a concern at front and back, and I predict will show in the result tomorrow against Wolves away.
The distraction of the cup may also affect the team. Of course Palace away is a big interest to Charlton fans, it is not in any way crucial however and should not be set up that way - altho perhaps its a little lost in translation.
The Championship is a marathon not a sprint, and if you want to finish at the required pace to be in the top slots come May you have to pace it correctly and live within your means. The remarkable run in under Riga is what springs to mind here,
Perhaps this is a little unfair on Luzon, we will see. What must happen to build on this great start is get those few more talents through the door, to avoid waisting the great start.
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We've been there before with Mark Hulyer, yes exciting at the time but in the end the club nearly disappeared.
stop panicking and enjoy the best team/players we have had In years and enjoy having a manager that wants to go out and win every game it's an exciting time to be a Charlton fan
I would also wish to see an experienced keeper in on a short term deal until Hendo is fit. Long term, I think we may need to consider another first choice keeper.
Personally I think what we have is more than sufficient to compete at this level.
Bear in mind that, on Tuesday, we more or less played our reserves and walked the match. Yes, it was Peterborough, but they wanted to win.
Let's just stop panicking and appreciate the fact that, for once, we're in a good position and playing good football!
Very happy with the progress so far.
I'm afraid unless clubs break even, SKY and ffp have mad sure that won't happen, there really is little point in flushing 5mil down the drain unless youre a fan and he isnt.
If you dont resource your company properly because of and ideological policy it wall fail, as shown last season. If you don't have much cash, and are propping the club up for love or having to sell players to survive fair enough. But if you have a lot of dough there really is little point in standing still for years. Waste of time and money.
This is the part of the equation that people always seem to forget, they say “if we’re in and around the top ten/eight at Christmas we should spend big in January, it’ll pay for itself when we get promoted”. This ignores the fundamental unpredictability of football, that’s why we watch it and it’s why it’s miles away from being like “resourcing a company”. Eight or nine teams in January will think they have a decent shot at promotion, only one third of them will be right so we have far more chance of spending money we don’t have and still not being promoted.
I’d rather continue on the road we’re on, working towards a sustainable model, selling a young player every couple of years to cover any losses and trying to get promotion through utilising a good young manager who understands his squad and a team of academy products blended with some real foreign quality.
I don’t think we’ll get promoted this year, but I’m happy so long as we progress both on and off the pitch – I’m in it for the long haul and I don’t need Premier League football next season, nor would I risk the future of the club on chasing it.
In a manufacturing industry for example that's relatively straightforward because costs of plant and machinery can be justified by unit costs of manufacture and strength of order book. The problem with players is that there's no easy way to define a pay-off statement other than if we get promotion it pays-off - if we don't get promotion it doesn't. So buying players is not resourcing, it's gambling or at best a highly speculative investment.
Also the OP does seem to be looking to tell RD how to do it (break the golden rule, whatever that is), when the reality is the KM did admit that they were surprised at the standard of the Championship. I would argue that RD has adapted to what is required, all the so called 'Network' tosh seems to have disappeared, RD is spending more and using the scouting network to provide quality players, I think he knows the direction he wants to take the club in, I for now am more than happy with RD GL and KM, long may it continue.
It would of course be frustrating to go close and miss out wondering what might've been in May but building carefully is surely what we've been brought up on in SE7. We've been disappointed to narrowly miss out on a few transfer targets to date, yet the more affordable replacements so far have been very impressive. If ultimately this season proves to be along the lines of eg Ipswich's last season, it can still be seen as very satisfying, leaving us with a platform to build on next year. Or maybe, just maybe, this tenacious skillful bunch will surpass our expectations...
Buying a player has intangibles. What is his character? Will he fit in in the dressing room? And what if he does his ACL 5 minutes into his debut? No guarantee is involved.
So, it's like punting on roulette. That's not resourcing, that's gambling...